Christmas Trees for P.E.A.C.E Available now!…Umoja PEACE Center Report to Community 2012

As you finish off the leftovers and reflect on the increasingly precious moments spent with family and friends, we want to share with you the accomplishments of the Umoja PEACE Center family over the past year and invite you to let your Christmas tree purchase make a difference by supporting our Annual Holiday Trees for P.E.A.C.E. Fundraiser.

If you or someone you know plans to purchase a Christmas tree this year, you can support the work of the Umoja PEACE Center.

Trees are priced to fit YOUR budget so place your order today!

Even better, tell all your family, friends, church and other groups about this opportunity to continue being part of the change and let us know HOW MANY TREES should be set aside.

Trees are available for pick up at the center daily from 9am-9pm. The UmojaFest P.E.A.C.E. Center is located at 1107 24th Avenue (@ Spring St.) in central Seattle. One block south of Union st behind the Post Office.

To place your order today, please call 206.329.1591 or 206.941.2527.

If you do not want a tree but would like to support by making a contribution please click here or mail your contribution to:

Thank you for your consideration and we hope that you can help us make the promise of change a reality.

Sincerely,

UmojaFest P.E.A.C.E. Center

2012 in review…

PEACE Week Seattle
Umoja PEACE Center started the year by launching the First Annual Seattle Martin Luther King Jr. County PEACEWeek in Seattle to counter the violence in our neighborhoods by encouraging youth and community members to take action to increase the peace instead.

The official Seattle MLK County PEACE Week Kick Off “A Vision 4 PEACE” was hosted at Seattle City Hall by the office of City Councilman Mike O’Brien featuring reception, youth panel & community speakers addressing whats needed to bring peace to our communities. See the video below

Winners of the contest were also afforded an exclusive invite only audition with the NBC Show “The Voice” giving them an opportunity to take their talent to the world stage.

Seattle Hip Hop Leadership Conference
Produced in conjunction with the Seattle Hip Hop Summit Action Network and Seattle Central Community College Black Student Union, the 3rd Annual Hip Hop Leadership Conference was the best yet.

Over 150 people attended the event which brought out some of Seattle’s leading hip hop figures including Vitamin D, Jake One, Miss Casey Carter, Julie C, DJ Topspin, DJ Hyphen, Rawha Habte and many others to discuss the social and cultural impacts and potential of hip hop music and culture. Additionally this event inspired the development of Kenyan American Youth Association Roots Festival/Conference held in June at Highline Community College.

Umoja Fest was a success again in 2012 thanks to all of the community support.

We appreciate our community partners stepping up to make this years event a success including Starbucks, Catholic Community Services Village Spirit Center, UNCF, Powerful Schools and Ezells.Please thank these businesses and community organizations and let them know you appreciate them investing in our community.

Umoja Fest seeks to highlight and lift up all of the wonderful and beautiful things in our community so if you have something positive going on please do reach out and get connected with us.

Sunday Potluck Dinner
Every Sunday is Thanksgiving at the UmojaFest P.E.A.C.E. Center! Join the UPC family for our weekly potluck dinner.

Find out whats happening around the UPC and community, enjoy great food, conversation and networking, be inspired by movers, shakers and changemakers.

Art In The Park
UPC partnered with Outside Thinc Agency and Seattle Parks Department to offer 8 week Art In The Park program at Othello Park in South Seattle. The program provided over 400 youth and families with summer arts education and enrichment activities in a much needed area.

Watch the video here:

UPC Studio &
Artist Development
The recording studio continues to be the main attraction at the UPC.

Aspiring young artists are assisted in developing recording and performing skills while learning about the business of music, careers in media and entrepreneurship.

Participants learn what it takes to develop their brand, use relevant technology, produce and promote eventget paid shows, network for success and more.

Sista Soul Speak
SistaSoulSpeak is a poetry and spoken word workshop focused on giving young women an opportunity to discover and share the beauty within and express themselves creatively through writing and performing poetry and spoken word.

Participants explore inspirational materials and then create their own. A great release and pick-me-up for young women who may be stressed from life issues. Participants will also have opportunities to perform and be introduced to other personal development resources.

UPC GROW!
UPC GROW is a Community Youth and Family Urban Gardening Project focused on creating a learning space to share ideas on how to grow healthy and nutritious food, people and communities. The project was held for six Saturdays.

The 8 week winter cycle provided great opportunities for learning, bonding and community building. The project was led by Jamil Suleman and supported by SYVPI. Stay tunded for our winter garden potluck on coming soon.

Raise The Bar Fitness
Umoja PEACE Center continues to promote fitness and healthy lifestyles to youth and families through the Raise the Bar Fitness Initiative.

Through our partnership with the Garfield Teen Life Center, over 300 youth were engaged in fitness based personald development activities and group mentoring.

Raise The Bar is aligned with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.

Bridging the Gap
The UPC Partnered with One Reel, Brandon Roy and Jamal Crawford Foundation to send over 250 youth and families to Bumpershoot.

We also became a partner with Seattle Theater Group Theater Access program to increase engagement with high quality arts production in Seattle.

Local to Global
UPC partnered with University of Washington Carlson Center to host international service learning interns from China and Iran. The opportunity provided valuable cultural exchange opportunities and learning opportunities for both the UW students and our high school interns.

We also partnered with the World Affairs Council of Seattleto host a delegation of leaders from North Africa and the Near East visiting as guests of the Department of State professional exchange program entitled “Youth Development: The Power of Music.” They were able to gather valuable insights from our experience using music and performing arts as medium for youth development.

New for 2013…

Seattle Symphony Collaboration
UPC is developing a new partnership with the Seattle Symphony to bring together young music producers and spoken word artists with Seattle Symphony Orchestra musicians to jointly create and perform original community compositions.

Plans for presentation of these performances include Seattle Symphony’s [untitled] series concert scheduled for April 26 at Benaroya Hall also at Umoja Fest 2013 as part of Seattle’s annual Seafair celebration.

The project will introduce youth to opportunities in Seattle’s Content Technology industries including content creators and distributors of film, music interactive media and gaming.This growing sector contributes over $7 billion in direct revenue annually to the Washington state and supports over 45,000 high wage jobs.

The center is in need of computers and Software Design Kits (SDKs) to begin mobile app development with young people in the central district.

We are working on partnerships with Seattle Interactive Conference, Seattle Music Commission and looking to connect with creative professionals and other stakeholders in the content technology industry.